Bright Ideas

Are You Doing it in the Dark?

Finally BulbsOctober 2, 2017

Apparently, three out of four women are. Yep, 75% of women confess to applying their makeup in poor lighting. Full disclosure, these figures were derived from a survey of 488 British women, conducted by a lighting company. However, we all know that though it may be based on a small grain, the truth here is mighty indeed: lighting can be the difference between good and bad makeup application.

According to an amusing-but-uncomfortably-close-to-reality infographic, common “makeup disasters caused by bad lighting” are: too much foundation, uneven eyes and too much everything! Sound familiar? It happens to the best of us, including, Nicole Kidman, Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, and many others. You can check out some very famous “makeup fails” here.

What to do? Makeup artists agree the best lighting for your make-up session is natural lighting. But not all of us have the luxury of homes with copious amounts of windows. And, unfortunately, we cannot base our make-up regime on something as inconsistent as the weather. Instead, totalbeauty.com offers eight “lighting tips to help you apply makeup perfectly!” Some of the tips are a little more helpful than others. To wit:

Use a lighted makeup mirror. It is suggested that ones with a magnified side can also help you see trouble spots that might need a little extra coverage.

Incorporate cross illumination. That’s just a fancy way of saying surround yourself in light. In addition to an overhead light, make sure you have lights on either side of you. Avoid overhead lighting alone as it “highlights things like wrinkles and eyebags,” and who needs that?

Opt for natural light. Well yes, we all know natural light is best. But you can’t always “open all the blinds and … apply makeup during the day when the sun is bright and can light up the room.”

Choose light bulbs in the 60 to 65 watt equivalency range. This watt equivalency is the most like natural daylight in most climates.

Avoid recessed lighting. Like overhead lights, they throw unnatural shadows that will make you look older – possibly prompting you to unnecessarily overapply makeup.

Avoid fluorescent light bulbs. Shouldn’t this just be a life mantra?

Stand in front of the light. This seems rather intuitive. But we’ll take it.

And, last (and somewhat repetitive if you ask us), use more than one light. After all, if you decide to employ cross illumination (as suggested in point 2), you will already be using more than one light.

These are all brilliant ideas (pun intended). But they fail to address one foundationally (we’re just full of puns today) important issue: the quality of the light you are using. To paraphrase, and tastefully bastardize, Shakespeare, the quality of light is not strained. Indeed, it is a quality most valuable at all times, but exponentially so when you are preparing your visage for the challenges of the day.

All the lighting tricks in the world will be for naught if you have the wrong light. And honestly, you don’t want to start your morning by cringing when you turn on your carefully cross-illuminating makeup lights. That’s why you should try our Tesla light bulbs. Our Tesla Technology produces a unique light spectrum that LED and other artificial light cannot match. It will illuminate your face, so you can make apply just the right amount of makeup to achieve the look you want – be it charming smoky or pretty Barbie – without the fear of becoming a “makeup don’t!”

So don’t do it in the dark. Do it in the light you will love. Shop now.